Griffin’s stunning submission victory over Rua at UFC 76 in
2007 remains one of the sport’s most-talked-about upsets, and it
launched “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner into a new
stratosphere in terms of MMA stardom. Less than a year later, he
fought and defeated Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson to capture the
UFC light heavyweight championship. Griffin views the win over
Rua as a turning point in his career.

“It’s below winning TUF, which is the biggest thing I’ve ever done,
and winning the belt, which would be the second-biggest thing I’ve
ever done,” he said during a pre-fight teleconference. “It’s up
there. Obviously, it was pretty big for me at the time. It sort of
got me a title shot.”

Rua sympathizers often point to the fact that he entered his first
matchup with Griffin at far less than 100 percent. In fairness, he
did not fight again for 16 months, the layoff the result of two
reconstructive knee surgeries.

Still, even Griffin admits Rua has become an entirely different
animal in subsequent appearances, including first-round finishes
against UFC hall of famer Chuck
Liddell and then-UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto
Machida. Ever dangerous, Rua appears to have adjusted and
adapted to life in the Octagon.

“Guys maybe at their core don’t change, but he looks a lot
different,” Griffin said. “[The first time we fought], that was his
first fight in the UFC. That was his first fight in a cage. That
was his first fight without kicks on the ground, so, it’s different
[this time around].”

As in their first encounter, Griffin will enter the cage as the
underdog. He likes how he matches up with the Brazilian, and he
welcomed the rematch.

“I think it’s still a reasonably good fight for me,” Griffin said.
“You look around at 205 [pounds]; find me an easy fight. There’s no
easy fights at the top. The Top 10 guys at 205 are all pretty good,
so it doesn’t really matter [who I’m fighting at this level].”

Griffin -- who last fought at UFC
126 in February, when he outpointed former middleweight
champion Rich
Franklin at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas -- will
enter the cage backed by the modest momentum of a two-fight winning
streak. He understands the enormous challenge he faces in Rua, who
not only hungers to avenge his loss to Griffin but wants to erase
the memories left over from his one-sided drubbing at the hands of
Jon
Jones in March.

“I think you just try and prepare,” Griffin said. “When you watch
Shogun and see how good he fought against Chuck
Liddell, you just try and be ready for that Shogun. Hopefully,
that’s not the guy that will show up, but that’s the guy you want
to be ready for.”

Episode No. 231 of the Co-Main Event Podcast is now available for streaming and download. This week, the buds are all about UFC 205, including Conor McGregor’s latest triumphant.Filed under: Newsread news >>

Episode No. 232 of the Co-Main Event Podcast is now available for streaming and download. This week, the fellas look back at Mousasi-Hall in Belfast, Bader-Nogueira in Sao Paulo, Chandler-Henderson iread news >>

UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin didn’t exactly dispel the idea that guys like him could soon find themselves out of a job. But he’s not particularly worried about it either.Filed under: Featured Viread news >>

When Demetrious Johnson takes on Tim Elliott for the flyweight title this Saturday, December 3, it will mark the conclusion of the 24th American season of The Ultimate Fighter. Including 10 internatiread news >>